Yea, a prey to the dogs and the birds of the mount will I give me to
be,-
From wailing and curse and pollution it is death, only death, sets
me free:
Let death come upon me before to the ravisher's bed I am
thrust;
What champion, what saviour but death can I find, or what refuge from
lust?
strophe 3
I will utter my shriek of entreaty, a prayer that shrills up to the
sky,
That calleth the gods to compassion, a tuneful, a pitiful
cry,
That is loud to invoke the releaser. O father, look down on the
fight;
Look down in thy wrath on the wronger, with eyes that are eager for
right.
Zeus, thou that art lord of the world, whose kingdom is strong over
all,
Have mercy on us! At thine altar for refuge and safety we call.
antistrophe
3
For the race of Aegyptus is fierce, with greed and with malice
afire;
They cry as the questing hounds, they sweep with the speed of
desire.
But thine is the balance of fate, thou rulest the wavering
scale,
And without thee no mortal emprise shall have strength to achieve or
prevail.
The Chorus rushes to the altar during the final part of the
song.
Studies
